The Isle of Man Ship Registry has been informed that a Manx registered ship was involved in a collision in the early hours of this morning.

'Verity' (IMO number 9229178) has sunk following the collision off the coast of Germany, with the Ship Registry being informed of this at 7:25am.

A spokesperson from the Isle of Man Government said: 'The collision occurred in the early hours of this morning and there is currently an ongoing search and rescue operation being coordinated by the German Coast Guard.

'This involves numerous other vessels which are within the vicinity.

'This is an ongoing situation and the initial reports are the collision occurred at approximately 4am local time in the sea area known as the German Bight.

'The Ship Registry will provide further information when available.'

BBC News has reported that the vessel 'was en route from Been in Germany to Immingham near Hull at the time of the accident', and that 'a couple of crew have been rescued but four are still missing.'